


Sunset Swerve

by erinburrsir



Category: Julie and The Phantoms (TV 2020)
Genre: Enemies to Lovers, F/M, Flynn is underrated, Julie is literally the best, Rivals, luke and jordan hate each other, so are Reggie and Alex, until they dont
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-16
Updated: 2021-03-15
Packaged: 2021-03-24 08:20:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,821
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30069366
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/erinburrsir/pseuds/erinburrsir
Summary: Jordan Moss and Luke Patterson have hated each other about as long as they’ve known each other so it’s no surprise that tensions immediately flare when 25 years after their untimely deaths the musicians of Sunset Curve and Apollo 81 are mysteriously brought back as ghosts. However, they need to band together to finally accomplish their life-long goals: to play their music for the world.
Relationships: Luke Patterson/Oc, Luke Patterson/Original Character
Kudos: 1





	1. Part 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! I honestly don't know what I'm doing but I just got an ao3 account and I've decided to start copying over all my fics from tumblr! Soooo, welcome to Sunset Swerve, my Luke Patterson x Original Character fic! This is the first jatp fic I wrote and it can also be read in its almost-entirety (it's missing an epilogue) over on my tumblr (@jaskiers-sweetkiss). 
> 
> I don't really know what else to say here but please let me know if I've messed up any tags or need to add any tags! Also, please let me know what you think!!

The relatively empty theater erupted into cheers when Sunset Curve finished their soundtrack. Jordan didn’t deign to join the venue’s staff in their congratulations; though the band clearly deserved the praise, she’d never admit it out loud. Sunset Curve were good, and if Jordan didn’t despise their lead singer so much she’d probably be a fan but that simply wasn’t the case. She and Luke had been rivals since grade school and it was only fitting that they both started their own bands and had been competing for venues for years. What didn’t make sense was that when Sunset Curve booked a headliner at the Orpheum, they recommended Apollo 81 as their opening act. Jordan could only assume Luke had done it to rub in the fact that they were headlining the Orpheum but still, the venue was a hotspot for record execs- Sunset Curve had given them a huge opportunity to go big. 

“We gotta fuel up before the show, I’m thinking street dogs,” Luke’s proclamation was met with cheers from Alex and Reggie, and Jordan rolled her eyes, lifting off the column she’d been leaning against to go find her own band. 

“Moss, you in?” Luke called from the stage and Jordan startled, turning to give the boy a look of bewilderment. “C’mon, it’s on me.” 

Jordan narrowed her eyes suspiciously but nodded anyway, adjusting her cross-body bag as she made her way to the guys. She watched bemusedly as Bobby made a beeline towards the cute Orpheum employee. 

“You guys are really good,” she complimented. “I’ve seen a lot of bands, been in a few myself. I was really feeling it. You guys too.” She said, turning towards Jordan and the girl couldn’t help but beam at the complement. 

“That’s what we do this for,” Luke said, clapping his bandmates on the back. “I’m Luke, by the way.”

“Hi, I’m Reggie.” 

“Alex.”

“Bobby.” The boy pushed Luke behind him and Jordan stifled a laugh. 

“Jordan.” She introduced herself.

“It was nice meeting you guys. I’m Rose,” the girl introduced and Jordan began digging through her bag. 

“Here’s our demo and a t-shirt,” she said, pulling them from her bag and offering them to Rose. 

She kept a small supply of the merch on her at all times, anything to get their name out there. 

“Geez, Moss. We offer you food and you try to outdo us?” Luke said, elbowing Reggie who looked confused for a second before offering up the merch in his hands. 

“Oh! And here’s _our_ demo and a t-shirt size _beautiful_ ,” he said with a wink, trying to outdo her and flirt at the same time. Jordan rolled her eyes. 

“Thank you,” she gasped sincerely before slinging the shirts over her shoulder. “I’ll make sure not to wipe the tables with these ones.” 

“Oh! Good idea!” Alex chimed in. “Whenever they get wet they sorta.. fall apart in your hands.” 

Jordan snorted as the other guys blanched and the information. 

“Don’t you guys have to go get hot dogs?” Bobby looked pointedly at the guys, silently urging them to leave before they could embarrass him further. 

Luke grinned, hitting Bobby’s chest with the back of his hand as he leaned in towards Rose, “He ate a hamburger for lunch.”

The rest of the guys grinned as they walked out the venue’s back door. Jordan turned to smile apologetically at Rose and wave goodbye before jogging to catch up with the guys, her bag hitting her hip as she went. 

When she caught up to them in the alley behind the theater Luke was going on about something cliche, wanting a connection with everyone through music or something. Jordan wanted to scoff but, well, she kind of agreed. 

She and Reggie broke away from the group at the same time to hand out some of their t-shirts to the fans in line. They were in and out before the fans recognized them, resulting in them calling their names as the pair walked away. 

“Great minds think alike, huh?” Reggie joked, bumping her shoulder with his own lightly as they caught up to the rest of the group. 

Jordan laughed before furrowing her brow in confusion. When had Sunset Curve started treating her like she was one of them? 

It must just be the exhilaration of playing the Orpheum, she concluded as they arrived at their destination. 

“Uh, do you guys normally get your hot dogs out of the back of a car?” Jordan remarked, equal parts skeptical and disgusted as she looked down the ally at Sam & Ella’s. 

“Relax, Moss,” Luke chided. “A hot dog’s a hot dog.”

Jordan rolled her eyes but followed them anyway, the four of them getting their hot dogs and crowing around the back of the Oldsmobile to add their condiments. 

“It would be nice to eat somewhere where the toppings aren’t in the back of an Oldsmobile.” Alex acknowledged, accidentally getting pickle juice all over the owners’ jumper cables. 

Once satisfied with their creations the boys plopped down on the sofa across the ally and Jordan perched on one end next to Reggie. 

“This is awesome you guys. We’re playing the Orpheum!” Luke began to monologue as the guys looked at him with smiles on their faces. “I can’t even count how many bands played here and then got huge.”

Pride swelled up inside Jordan. Sure Apollo 81 was only the opening act, but they were still about to make their big break right alongside Sunset Curve. There was something poetic about it, two rivals about to achieve their dreams together. 

“Eat up boys, _and girl_ ,” Luke added, grinning at Jordan. “‘Cause after tonight, everything changes.”

Like a scene right out of a movie, they all grinned at each other before taking their first bites. 

Jordan grimaced at the flavor, remembering why she wasn’t a big fan of hot dogs. 

“That’s a new flavor,” Alex said, sounding concerned but Reggie and Luke laughed it off. 

“Chill man,” Reggie said nonchalantly. “Street dogs haven’t killed us yet.”

* * *

**25 years later**

* * *

“Hey, what’s this Apollo 81 stuff doing in here?” Reggie called out into the garage. 

The guys had just returned from the beach, their spirits lifted by their little jam session. Reggie had immediately poofed up to the loft, curious about what other items were left behind. Luke was sitting on his couch, lyric notebook in hand, inspired by his newfound ability to summon his guitar at will. Alex was laying across the couch with his feet in Luke’s lap, having just previously announced that he was considering taking up knitting to pass the time. 

“Maybe Julie’s mom was a fan?” Alex answered, getting up from the couch to join Reggie in the loft, his interest piqued. Neither of the boys noticed the way Luke stiffened at the mention of the band. 

Reggie nodded in response to Alex’s theory. 

“I wonder what happened to them anyway?” He was sitting on the floor of the loft, the box in his lap as he rifled through some of the memorabilia- mostly flyers from their performances, from small open mic nights to the Orpheum. Reggie pulled out the Orpheum flyer. “Do you think Jordan survived that night? I mean, she was with us when we died but not in that weird room.” 

“I don’t know Reg, I can’t see how she would’ve survived when we didn’t.” 

“You think she’s still in her own black room? By herself?” 

“That’s really depressing Reggie.” Alex deadpanned. “She probably passed on, y’know?”

“Yeah, you’re probably right.” Reggie brightened, returning the Orpheum flyer to the box and continuing to sift through it, Alex leaning over his shoulder as he did.

“Hey! Their demo!” He said excitedly, holding up the CD case. “I always secretly liked their music.” 

“I think we all did,” Alex said thoughtfully, falling forward when Reggie poofed out from under him. 

Reggie reappeared below the loft, making his way to the CD player left by their new band setup.

Before Alex or Luke realized what was happening Reggie had hit play on the machine and Apollo 81’s “Lost” was blasting through the garage.

“Woah! Reggie, people can hear that and Julie’s not here!” Luke exclaimed, jumping up from the couch to turn it off at the same time that Alex poofed down from the loft. 

Before either of them could reach the CD player, something that could only be described as portal-esque opened up in front of them, and the sound of the demo was drowned out by a feminine voice yelling “What the hell?!” 

___

Jordan hit the ground hard as she was dropped from the portal. She didn’t even bother to stand up, instead letting herself fall flat on her back with a groan, her eyes shut. 

_What now? Another black room to sit in?_ She thought with a sigh. _Death sucks_. 

“Is this how Julie felt?” A voice whispered.

The sudden awareness that she wasn’t alone startled Jordan and she quickly sat up, her eyes flying open only to be met with some of the last faces she had seen before she died. 

She couldn’t help it, she immediately screamed and the guys started screaming too. 

After a moment, the shock wore off (well, sort of anyway. She still had no idea what was going on) and the screaming stopped. Luke nervously offered a hand, presumably to help her up off the floor but she scowled and pushed it away, standing up on her own. 

“Why am I back in your garage?” She asked, glaring slightly at the boys as if they were to blame, which they might’ve been. “And how the hell did you change the decor so fast?”

“Okay, well, it’s a little complicated-“ Reggie started but Alex put a hand on his shoulder to stop him. 

“Well, you remember when we died, right?” Alex said in a much softer voice than Reggie, and Jordan nodded. 

“You mean when you fed me a poisonous hot dog before I could perform at the _Orpheum_.” She said, glaring at Luke specifically.

“Hey! If you’ll recall, we _all_ ate those hot dogs and we _all_ missed our chance to play the Orpheum.” Luke bit back, immediately becoming defensive. 

“Man, I really thought the twenty-five years might’ve quelled their rivalry,” Reggie muttered to Alex,00 and Jordan whipped around to face him. 

“Did you just say it’s been _twenty-five years_?” She shrieked and Alex groaned at his friend’s lack of tact.

“Yeah,” Alex answered, glaring at his bandmates to shut them up. “We died in ’95 and it’s 2020 now.” 

“You’re telling me I was _alone_ in that room for _twenty-five years_?” She asked, her voice becoming louder and more aggressive as she went on. 

“Bet probably cried the whole time like Alex did.” Luke snarked and Jordan’s expression grew livid. 

“Okay, _first of all_ , crying is a completely reasonable reaction to _dying_. And second of all, fuck you, you emotionless piece of-“

The song change from the CD player caught her attention and her face broke into a self-righteous grin. 

“Were you guys listening to our music?” She asked rhetorically, eyes gleaming at the discovery.

Luke scowled, stalking over to the CD player and turning it off. 

“Aw, c’mon, that was one of my favorites,” she whined, following Luke’s steps towards the player and hitting play. Well, she tried to hit play but her finger went right through it. 

Luke laughed triumphantly and Jordan stuck her tongue out at him, crossing her arms like a petulant child.

“Oh, very mature, Moss.” 

“Oh, _I’m_ immature? Even in death you’re still a whiny, jealous, _dickhead_!“ 

“Please! If anyone’s whiny and jealous it’s _you_!” 

“Should we do something?” Alex asked in a whisper, leaning towards Reggie but unable to take his eyes off the two bickering ghosts in front of them. They were like a train wreck. 

“Nah, just let them get it out of their systems,” Reggie responded, sounding confident despite past experience with the two. 

“You are _so_ self-obsessed!”

“Are you kidding me? You’re the queen of self-obsession!” 

“Oh my gosh, I can’t do this!” Jordan exclaimed. “I’m out! See you in hell asshole!” 

“No, Jordan, wait!” Luke called but Jordan had already poofed away. 

He slumped to the ground with a groan, head in his hands. “I have to go get her.”

“I’ve got it,” Alex said, resting a comforting hand on his shoulder before poofing away himself. 

“You don’t think we’ll _actually_ go to hell, do you?” Reggie filled the sudden silence and Luke shook his head, poofing out of the garage as well. 


	2. Part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jordan visits her grave, has a panic attack, and then meets Julie (whoever that is).

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here’s part two! We’re still in episode 2 but I had some more things I needed to establish about Jordan before we could get to the Bright performance. Let me know what you think and also if I'm missing/messed up any tags!
> 
> CONTENT WARNING: As the summary states, Jordan does have a panic attack while Alex helps her through. They also discuss the death of Julie's mom.

“Why are you in a cemetery?” Alex asked when he finally found Jordan.

The dark-haired girl was sitting on the ground facing away from him with her knees pulled up to her chest. 

“I was hoping my grave would absorb me so I wouldn’t have to deal with whatever the hell this is.” She didn’t even turn to acknowledge the boy’s arrival, her eyes still trained on the tombstone in front of her. 

“Huh,” Alex said under his breath, lost for words. “I figured you’d, like, go to your parents’ house or something, someplace familiar. We went to the Orpheum our first night.” 

“That’s kinda depressing,” Jordan remarked, her tone emotionless as she stared straight ahead. 

“Says the girl literally sitting on her _ grave.” _

Jordan cracked a smile at that. 

“There’s room for two if you don’t mind getting your pants dirty,” she offered, shifting her bag to the side to make room. “Is that even possible anymore?” 

Alex shook his head, taking a seat beside her, arms wrapped around his knees as he mirrored her position. “Reggie sat in the sand at the beach today and didn’t have any issues.” 

Jordan sighed, “Well, I guess that’s one pro to being a ghost, no sand where sand shouldn’t be.” 

Alex laughed and Jordan turned her head slightly to look at him. 

“So they sent you, huh?” 

“Nah,” Alex breathed, “I volunteered.” 

Jordan cocked her head, looking at him fully now. “Why?”

“I don’t know…. You just seemed  _ overwhelmed _ and I figured Luke wasn’t gonna help any.” 

Jordan nodded, turning back towards her tombstone. It was unnerving to look at, her name carved into the stone even though she was still walking, talking,  _ living _ . At least that’s what it felt like, but she knew that six feet below her was her body, probably very decomposed by now and  _ oh my god _ \- Jordan started to shake, her thoughts becoming more panicked. 

“Woah, hey, Jordan are you okay?” Alex asked, alarmed by the sudden change in her demeanor. Her breaths were becoming shorter and more frequent and she was practically vibrating with the way she was shaking. 

She shook her head in response to Alex’s question, unable to tear her eyes away from her name. “I can’t breathe she gasped,” which only caused more panic from her. “Ghosts can’t breathe, why-“ A sob wracked through her, cutting her off. 

“We gotta get you out of here,” Alex muttered, wrapping his arms around her and poofing them out. 

They landed with a light thud on the floor of the garage and Alex pulled himself away from the now crying girl. 

“Okay, Jordan, can you look at me?” Alex asked softly, moving to sit cross-legged in front of her. “Okay, let’s do a breathing square, yeah? Breathe in on the up, breathe out on the down, and hold in between okay?”

He started drawing slow squares in the air with his finger and repeating the instructions as he went. It was a couple of minutes still before the girl’s breaths became somewhat regular. 

“Good, okay. Now name five things you can see.”

“Rug, coffee table, piano, you, window.” She answered through shaky breaths. 

“Alright now four things you can feel?” 

“I can’t  _ feel _ anything! _ ”  _ She snapped, panic starting to well up again. 

“Hey, hey, that’s not true,” Alex soothed, placing his hand in hers. “You can feel me, right?” 

Jordan nodded and took another shaky breath before continuing.

“Okay, um, you, the ground, I can feel my shoes? And my bag?” She said unsure.

“Yeah, it doesn’t make much sense but yeah,” Alex affirmed. “Three things you can hear?”

“You, the air conditioning, and myself.” She answered faster and more confidently.

“Two things you can smell.”

“Uh, fret polish and dust.”

“Good. One thing you can taste.” 

“I don’t know what the inside of my mouth tastes like right now but I’m glad it’s not poisonous hot dogs.” She answered, letting out a genuine sigh of relief. 

Alex smiled.

“How’re you feeling?” He asked after a moment, lightly squeezing the hand that he was still holding. 

“Uh, better. Still kinda shaky.” Jordan laughed awkwardly, pulling her hand away to play with the hair ties around her other wrist. “Thank you.” 

“It was nothing.” Alex waved it off and Jordan rolled her eyes. “I get it, y’know? I mean, I  _ cried _ for  _ twenty-five years _ . That’s one hell of a breakdown.”

Jordan laughed for real at that and Alex joined in, the pair sharing an understanding smile. 

“Oh hey, you’re back!” Reggie exclaimed as he poofed back into the garage, “Ooh, are we sitting on the floor?” He gasped excitedly before plopping down next to the pair. 

Jordan tilted her head and narrowed her eyes curiously at the boy. The three of them sat in silence for a minute, Jordan and Alex staring at Reggie while the dark-haired boy grinned contently. 

“So, why  _ are _ we sitting on the floor?” Reggie finally asked, breaking the silence and Alex sighed while Jordan barked out a laugh. 

“We just felt like it,” she lied and Reggie shrugged, seemingly content with that answer. “Where’s Luke?” 

“I dunno,” Reggie shrugged. “He left a little bit after you guys did.” 

Jordan nodded and stood up, dusting off her pants before remembering she didn’t have to do that anymore, and headed for the door with Alex following suit. 

“Wait, where are you going?” Reggie questioned, not quite catching on as he scrambled to his feet. 

“Seriously man?” Alex raised his eyebrows at the other boy. 

“Ohhh, to find Luke, right,” Reggie realized and Alex rolled his eyes following Jordan through the garage door. 

Jordan turned around as she stepped through the door, thinking decidedly that she’d need to get used to that because it was  _ really _ weird. In her distraction, she had stopped paying attention to where she was going and ended up walking right into the boy she was looking for. 

As she stumbled backward, her hands reached out for something to grab onto, landing on his shoulders while his arm instinctively grabbed her waist, pulling her against his chest. Jordan was certain they’d never been this close to each other before and as she looked up at his face she could see the rings of gold around his pupils, the creases around his eyes and mouth from smiling, the slight dryness of chapped lips. When her gaze returned to his eyes she found them peering into her own and she swallowed roughly at the intensity of his gaze. 

After what felt like an eternity but was realistically only a few seconds, Luke cleared his throat, averting his eyes and stepping away from Jordan and she did the same, trying desperately to fight the heat in her cheeks. 

“Oh, hey! You found Luke!” Reggie exclaimed as he and Alex stepped out of the garage. 

“Uh, yeah! He just got back?” Jordan responded, looking anywhere but at Luke as she stepped further away. 

“Yeah, sorry about just disappearing,” Luke apologized. “I just needed some air.”

Reggie nodded, accepting the excuse at face value but Alex looked between the two skeptically, clearly noticing something that Reggie hadn’t. 

“I wonder what Ray is up to today?” Reggie thought aloud, his mind clearly having wandered. 

“Who’s Ray?” Jordan asked Alex in a whisper, watching as Reggie stared thoughtfully at the home. 

“It’s Julie’s dad,” Alex answered and Jordan just looked more confused. 

“Okay,  _ who’s Julie _ ?” She asked, brows raised expectantly. 

“Oh, right! She’s the girl who brought us back. She can see us,” Alex summarized quickly and Jordan nodded.

“And her family lives here now?” She asked, gathering up the context clues and Alex nodded. 

“So when do I get to meet her?” 

“Uh, well, she’s at school right now,” Alex explained. 

“She’s trying to get back into her music program,” Luke added in, and Jordan jumped slightly, not expecting the boy to interact with her. “That girl is wicked talented.” 

The boys began to explain the rest to her as they followed Reggie who had started wandering up to the house. 

Somehow they had ended up in Julie’s bedroom, the four ghosts scattered around the immaculately decorated space. 

“You understand that this is incredibly invasive, right?” Jordan questioned as she sat in the corner while the guys poked and prodded through Julie’s bedroom. 

Jordan hadn’t met the girl yet, but she was pretty sure she wouldn’t want them in her room, especially not trying to rifle through her belongings like Luke was. 

“She said we could stay here,” Luke defended, climbing up on a stool to get a closer look at one of Julie’s shelves. 

“She said you could be in her bedroom and go through all her stuff?” Jordan asked skeptically, crossing her arms over her chest and raising a brow to express her disbelief. 

“Well… We…” Luke fumbled and Jordan rolled her eyes.

“So you have no excuse.” 

“What? don’t tell me you’re not curious,” 

“Curious? Yes. Rude? No.” Jordan quipped and Luke rolled his eyes. 

Fortunately, before the two could get into another fight, the door opened and a girl who couldn’t have been much younger than any of them walked in. Based on the photos placed around the room and the context of their location Jordan assumed it must’ve been Julie. 

“What are you guys doing in my room?” She gasped, clearly angry and Jordan smirked at Luke triumphantly. 

The guys all started speaking with various “Umm’s” and ‘Uhhh’s” all trying to come up with an excuse before Luke, frozen in place atop the ottoman, said, “We were looking for the kitchen.” 

Jordan rolled her eyes at the terrible excuse and Julie did the same. 

“This…  _ This _ can’t happen, it’s creepy,” Julie said, staring pointedly at the boys as she waved her fingers, before adding to Reggie, “Get off my bed please.” 

As Reggie scrambled off of the bed Luke turned the attention back to himself as he raised his hand, “Hey Julie, what’s in the box?” 

“That’s off-limits.” 

“Oh, okay,  _ girl stuff _ ,” Luke replied, smiling as if he understood and Reggie jumped in excitedly, 

“Ooh, like butterflies and glitter?"

“Oh c’mon,” Alex groaned.

“You guys are idiots,” Jordan stated at the same time, rolling her eyes. 

“ _ Woah _ ! Who said you could invite ghost friends to my house?” The girl exclaimed, apparently just noticing Jordan’s presence. 

“Well, we didn’t invite her exactly,” Alex started before Luke took over. 

“We kinda summoned her this morning while you were at school.” He lifted his hands as if to say ‘oops?’ “Like how you accidentally summoned us yesterday.” 

“You summoned a ghostly stranger to my house?!” Julie exclaimed, becoming gradually more heated. 

“Jordan isn’t a stranger!” Reggie piped up, “She died with us!”

“So how come she didn’t come back with you guys?”

“Cause I wasn’t part of Dumb-set Curve,” Jordan answered and Luke glared at her for mocking their band.

“At least we were better than Asshole 81,” He shot back and Alex and Reggie sighed. 

“Real clever,” Jordan scoffed, “How long have you been holding onto that one? Twenty-five years?” 

“They’ve kinda always had this rivalry,” Alex explained to Julie as Luke and Jordan continued to bicker in the background. “Jordan was the leader of our rival band, Apollo 81.” 

Julie sighed, mumbling a sarcastic “Great,” as she watched the two, their faces now inches away from one another as they hurled insults back and forth. 

“Hey! I picked something up!” Alex said excitedly, effectively gaining everyone’s attention as he walked towards the bed, picture frame in his hands before his concentration slipped and it fell, landing softly on Julie’s comforter. “I dropped it.” 

“Is that your mom?” Luke asked, leaning over Alex to get a look at the photo. 

“Yes, and it’s my  _ favorite _ picture of us so if you break it, I’ll break you.” Julie threatened, snatching the frame up from the bed and placing it on her nightstand. 

“Okay, well, sorry cause we’re kinda unbreakable at this point,” Alex pointed out. 

“I don’t get it, you guys can mess up my bed, pick up your instruments, but you can’t pick up other stuff?” 

“I know, right? It’s hard, but for some reason our instruments are easy.” Luke elaborated and Jordan frowned thoughtfully, all of this new information to her. 

“Yeah, super easy! Check out what I learned today!” Reggie said, standing excitedly only to fall back down as his bass appeared on top of him.

“I’m sorry, we can  _ summon _ our  _ instruments _ ?” Jordan asked incredulously. 

The guys all nodded, Reggie explaining that you just had to wish for it. Jordan closed her eyes, concentration on the first instrument of hers she could think of. She gasped at the impact as suddenly she was gripping her electric cello. 

“You play the cello?” Julie asked, sounding confused. 

“I was classically trained,” Jordan explained, “But when we started Apollo 81 I taught myself electric, amongst other instruments. We were working on incorporating the cello into some of our songs before I, y’know…”

“What other instruments can you play?” Julie asked curiously and Luke groaned. 

“Ignore him, he’s just upset because he knows I’m more talented than he is,” Jordan waved the boy off and Luke glared. 

“Just because you can play more instruments than me doesn’t make you more talented,” He spoke, “Quantity doesn’t trump quality.”

Jordan just rolled her eyes before turning back to Julie, “I can play just about every string instrument you can name - I grew up taking violin lessons before moving on to cello. I can also play piano and in middle school band I played the saxophone.” 

“Wow, that’s impressive,” Julie nodded and Jordan smiled at the praise. 

Luke huffed, reclaiming the room’s attention as he stepped back onto the ottoman. 

“Julie,” he whined, gesturing to the box. 

“Oh my gosh, I thought I told you to leave that alone!” The girl exclaimed, crossing her arms over her chest sternly. 

“I know, and you should’ve just said nothing cause now I can’t stop thinking about it, so… What’s in the box, Julie?” 

“It’s just my dream box, okay!” She gave in. “Whenever I get a thought or something, I write it down and get it out of my mind.” 

“Like lyrics?” 

“They would be if I still wrote music like I used to with my mom,” Julie sighed, looking down to avoid their eyes. “Now it’s just full of stuff that doesn’t make me sad.” 

“But you do play,” Alex said and Julie snapped her head up to stare at him. “We heard you this morning.” 

Jordan narrowed her eyes in confusion, having not been “alive” (for lack of a better word) that morning. 

“In the garage?!”

Luke jumped down from the ottoman to hit Alex’s shoulder, silently admonishing him for revealing that information. 

“You were there?” 

The guys once again stumbled for a response, their voice shooting up an octave or two. 

“So, where  _ is _ your kitchen, by the way?” Luke asked, diving onto the bed and staring up at Julie, doing his best to distract her. 

“Okay,” she began, leaning down to meet his eye level. “We need to set some boundaries. For starters,  _ stay out of my room _ !” She said angrily, pointing towards the door and the guys stumbled over each other to leave. 

Jordan paused before she walked out, something on her mind as she examined the girl in front of her. 

“Can I ask what happened to your mom?” She asked softly, “It’s okay if its too personal-“

“No, it’s fine, the guys already know,” Julie waved her off, sighing sadly, “She passed a year ago.” 

Jordan bobbed her head slightly to herself at the answer. “I’m really sorry, it sounds like she meant a lot to you.” 

Julie nodded, “She did.” 

“I know how hard that can be,” Jordan opened up, “If you ever need someone to talk to I’m here.” 

She didn’t stay any longer, not wanting to make things awkward. When she walked through the door she ran straight into Alex who had apparently turned back around. Jordan flushed, eyes widening as she wondered if he had heard any of their conversation but he looked just as surprised to see her still there as she did him. She gave him a tight-lipped smile before poofing back to the garage. 


End file.
